3/13. President Bush gave a
speech
at the White House on Thursday, March 13, 2008, in which he said he would veto
the latest FISA reform advanced by House Democratic leaders. The House
postponed its consideration of this bill from Thursday to Friday,
March 14. Bush reasoned that the Democratic proposal fails to grant retroactive
immunity to companies that have cooperated with the government.

Bush said that "This week House leaders are finally bringing legislation to
the floor. Unfortunately, instead of holding a vote on the good bipartisan bill
that passed the United States Senate, they introduced a partisan bill that would
undermine America's security. This bill is unwise. The House leaders know that
the Senate will not pass it. And even if the Senate did pass it, they know I
will veto it."

The
bill [2.5 MB PDF file] that President Bush opposes is the House Democrats' latest version
of HR 3773 [LOC |
WW], the
"Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of
2007" or "RESTORE Act". The House passed an previous version on November 15,
2007. The bill that the President supports is S 2248
[LOC |
WW], the
"Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007", which the
Senate passed on February 12.

Bush explained that one reason for his veto would be its lack of retroactive immunity. He
said that "the House bill fails to provide liability protection to companies believed to
have assisted in protecting our nation after the 9/11 attacks. Instead, the House bill would
make matters even worse by allowing litigation to continue for years. In fact, House leaders
simply adopted the position that class action trial lawyers are taking in the multi-billion-dollar
lawsuits they have filed."

He continued that "This litigation would undermine the private sector's willingness to
cooperate with the intelligence community, cooperation that is absolutely essential to
protecting our country from harm. This litigation would require the disclosure of state
secrets that could lead to the public release of highly classified information that our
enemies could use against us. And this litigation would be unfair, because any companies
that assisted us after 9/11 were assured by our government that their cooperation was legal
and necessary."

He also said that another reason for vetoing the bill would its language regarding court
approval of government activities. He said that "the House bill could reopen dangerous
intelligence gaps by putting in place a cumbersome court approval process that would make it
harder to collect intelligence on foreign terrorists." He added that the latest bill
"would extend protections we enjoy as Americans to foreign terrorists overseas. It would
cause us to lose vital intelligence on terrorist threats".

Third, President Bush complained that the Democrat's bill would "establish
yet another commission to examine past intelligence activities". He said that
the House and Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees already provide
oversight, and that "Congress should stop playing politics with the past and
focus on helping us prevent terrorist attacks in the future."

The House held a closed session on Thursday night, March 13, at which it
reviewed information regarding government surveillance.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the
House Majority Leader, wrote in a
statement
afterwards that "I did not hear any new information tonight that dissuades me from my
very strong belief that the FISA bill House Democrats have produced -- and which the House
will vote on tomorrow -- is a reasonable, thoughtful, appropriate piece of legislation that
will ensure that the intelligence community has all the tools it needs to protect our nation,
while also respecting the Constitutional protections that Americans rightfully feel are so
important. Tomorrow, I will urge members on both sides of the aisle to vote for this
legislation."

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman
of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC),
wrote in a statement that
"The more my colleagues know, the less they believe this administration's rhetoric. As
someone who has chaired classified hearings and reviewed classified materials on this subject,
I believe the more information members receive about this administration's actions in the area
of warrantless surveillance, the more likely they are to reject the administration's scare
tactics and threats. My colleagues who joined me in the hearings and reviewed the
administration's documents have walked away with an inescapable conclusion: the administration
has not made the case for unprecedented spying powers and blanket retroactive immunity for
phone companies."

On March 13, 2008, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a
letter
to members of the House urging opposition to the latest Democratic bill.

It wrote that the Chamber "strongly supports the Senate version of H.R. 3773,
the “FISA Amendments Act of 2008,” passed by a bipartisan vote of 69-29, and urges you to
oppose the anticipated House amendment to the legislation. The House amendment would, among
other things, eliminate provisions providing immunity for telecommunications providers. The
Chamber believes that the immunity provision included in the Senate-passed bill provides
necessary, appropriate, and targeted relief commensurate with the threat to national security
that arose in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks."

DOJ Inspector General Releases Second
Report on FBI Misuse of National Security Letters

On March 9, 2007, the DOJ's OIG released a
report [30 MB in
PDF] titled "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Use of National
Security Letters", and a second
report [10 MB in
PDF] titled "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Use of Section
215 Order for Business Records". See also, story titled "DOJ IG Releases Reports
on Use of NSLs and Section 215 Authority" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.
1,551, March 13, 2007. That report covered the use of NSLs in 2003 through 2005.

The purpose of the just released report is to address the use of NSLs in
2006, and to "describe and assess the response by the FBI and the Department to
the serious misuse of NSL authorities that our first report described".

The report finds violations of NSL authority in 2006 similar to the
violations reported for 2003-2005 in the 2007 report. However, it should be
noted that in 2006 the FBI had not yet received the 2007 report.

The report also concludes that "since issuance of our March 2007 report, the FBI and
the Department have made significant progress in implementing the recommendations from that
report and in adopting other corrective actions to address serious problems we identified in
the use of national security letters. The FBI has also devoted significant energy, time, and
resources toward ensuring that its field managers and agents understand the seriousness of
the FBI's shortcomings in its use of NSLs and their responsibility for correcting these
deficiencies."

However, it adds that "we believe that it is too early to definitively state
whether the new systems and controls developed by the FBI and the Department
will eliminate fully the problems with the NSLs that we identified."

He wrote, in full, that "Last week, the FBI Director previewed and soft-pedaled the
Inspector General’s report on National Security Letters released this morning. It outlines more
abuses and what appears to be the improper use of National Security Letters for years in a
systemic failure throughout the FBI. In addition to the violations of law we examined last year,
this new IG report suggests that the FBI mirrors the rest of the Bush administration in seeking
to avoid accountability by providing itself blanket authority. When the Senate returns after
the March recess, I intend to follow up with another oversight hearing. Legislative
action may be necessary to correct these abuses. I intend to seek accountability and advertence
to the rule of law, which was evaded before 2007.”

John Miller, head of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs, stated in a
release that
"the FBI has committed significant time and resources and has made significant
progress toward correcting the deficiencies identified during last year’s
review".

GAO Releases Report on FCC Enforcement
Actions

3/13. The Government Accountability Office
(GAO) released a report
[58 pages in PDF] titled "Telecommunications: FCC Has Made Some Progress in the
Management of Its Enforcement Program but Faces Limitations, and Additional
Actions Are Needed".

The FCC released an undated
letter [108 pages in
PDF] from Kris Monteith (at
left), Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau
(EB), to the GAO in response to a draft of its report. She wrote that the "the
GAO report contains several errors that detract from its utility".

Monteith also wrote that the FCC "is a proponent of strong enforcement action
to protect consumers and to ensure" that the Communications Act is carried out.

The GAO report states that based on the GAO's analysis of the
EB's databases for 2003-2006, the EB "conducted about 46,000 investigations.
These investigations were in response to complaints that the Enforcement Bureau
received directly, complaints received by CGB, audits and inspections, and
self-initiated inquiries. As of December 2006, the Enforcement Bureau had closed
about 39,000 of the 46,000 investigations. Based on our analysis of FCC’s
Enforcement Bureau's databases for 2003 through 2006, about 9 percent, or almost
3,400, of these investigations were closed with an enforcement action, and
approximately 83 percent, or about 32,200, were closed with no enforcement."

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), Chairman
of the House Commerce Committee (HCC),
the stated in a release that "When more than 80 percent of complaints
investigated by the FCC are closed without any meaningful enforcement action,
and it isn’t possible to determine why no action was taken, then it appears that
the FCC has abdicated its duty to protect consumers."

He continued that "This GAO report clearly demonstrates why
we cannot rely solely on the FCC to enforce complaints, and why it is important
to have safeguards in place at both the federal and the state level, as is the
case in my home state of Michigan."

Rep. Dingell concluded that the HCC "will exercise vigorous
oversight to ensure that consumers have adequate protections and that the FCC
performs its duties in an effective and timely manner."

The GAO report added that EB officials "told us that some investigations may be closed
with no enforcement action for such reasons as insufficient information or a determination that
no violation occurred."

The report also reflects that most of the complaints are
related to either unsolicited calls and messages or billing and rates.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated in a
release that "I appreciate the GAO's examination of the FCC’s enforcement efforts and
welcome its recommendations. Since I became Chairman, the Enforcement Bureau is responding to
100% of Consumer complaints. Additionally, under my Chairmanship, the Commission has collected
a record amount of fines, forfeitures and consent decree payments."

District Court Enjoins Spyware
Distributor

3/10. The U.S. District Court (DNev) issued a
final
order [11 pages in PDF] in FTC v. ERG Ventures on January 3, 2008. The order
permanently enjoins ERG Ventures, Timothy P. Taylor and others from distributing spyware
software.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a
release on March
10, 2008, that states that the defendants tricked consumers into downloading
malicious software "by hiding it within seemingly innocuous free programs,
including screensavers and video files. Once downloaded, the malware silently
activated itself and installed programs that changed consumers' home pages,
tracked their Internet activity, altered browser settings, degraded computer
performance, and disabled anti-spyware and anti-virus software. Many of the
malware programs installed by the defendants were extremely difficult or
impossible for consumers to remove from their computers."

The District Court issued an order on October 3, 2007, that covered most of
the defendants. The January 3, 2008, order covers defendant Timothy P. Taylor. It also
imposes a token monetary fine on Taylor. It also requires compliance monitoring,
compliance reporting, and recording keeping by the defendants.

This case is FTC v. ERG Ventures LLC, et al., U.S. District Court for the District
of Nevada, D.C. No. 3:06-CV-00578-HDM-VPC , Judge Howard McKibben presiding.

Washington Tech CalendarNew items are highlighted in red.

Friday, March 14

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative
business. It is scheduled to consider HR 3773, the "FISA Amendments Act of
2008". See, Rep. Hoyer's
calendar for week of March 10, and
schedule for Friday, March 14.

Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the
Petition for
Declaratory Ruling [33 pages in PDF] filed by the
Public Knowledge (PK) and other groups on
December 11, 2007, pertaining to the regulatory status of text messaging services,
including short code based services sent from and received by mobile phones.
The PK requests that the FCC declare that these services are governed by the
anti-discrimination provisions of Title II of the Communications Act. See,
story titled
"Verizon Wireless and Net Neutrality Advocates Clash Over Text Messaging" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.
1,647, September 27, 2007. See also,
letter from Verizon
Wireless to NARAL dated September 27, 2007, and NARAL's
web
page titled "NARAL Pro-Choice America Wins Fight over Corporate Censorship".
See also, story titled "Public Knowledge Asks FCC to Declare that Blocking and
Refusing to Carry Text Messages Violates Title II" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.
1,686, December 11, 2007. This proceeding is WT Docket No. 08-7. See,
notice in the Federal Register, January 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 18, at Pages
4866-4867. See also,
notice [PDF] of extension, DA 08-282.

Deadline for recent law school graduates, graduating law students,
and judicial clerks to submit to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) applications for participation in the FCC's 2008 Attorney Honors
Program. See, FCC
notice
[PDF].

EXTENDED TO APRIL 28.Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in response to its Report on Broadcast Localism and Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking. The FCC adopted this item on December 18, 2007, and released the text on
January 24, 2008. It is FCC 07-218 in MB Docket No. 04-233. See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 13, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 30, at Pages 8255-8259.
See also, FCC's
Public Notice [PDF] (DA 08-393). See also,
Public Notice [PDF] (DA 08-515) extending deadlines.

Monday, March 17

St. Patrick's Day.

The House will begin is two week March recess. See, Rep. Hoyer's
2008
calendar [4.25 MB PDF].

Deadline to submit reply comments to the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to
its two notice of proposed rulemakings (NPRMs) regarding service rules for the Wireless
Communications Service (WCS) and for terrestrial repeaters used in conjunction with the
Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS). These items are FCC 07-215 in WT Docket No.
07-293 and IB Docket No. 95-91. The FCC adopted these items on December 17, 2007, and
released them on December 18, 2007. See,
notice in the Federal Register, January 15, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 10, at
Pages 2437-2440.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in response to its Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding
cable carriage of digital television broadcast signals. The FCC adopted this item on
September 11, 2007, and released the
text
[68 pages in PDF] on November 30, 2007. This item is FCC 07-120 in CS Docket No. 98-120. See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 1, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 22, at Pages 6099-6101,
and story titled "FCC Adopts R&O and Further NPRM Regarding Cable Carriage of Digital
Broadcast TV Signals" in TLJ
Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,640, September 17, 2007.

Deadline to submit comments or original research to the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to its
workshop titled "Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace" to be held
on May 6-7, 2008. See, notice.

Tuesday, March 18

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals
(DCCir) will hear oral argument in Sprint Nextel v. FCC, App. Ct. No.
07-1416. Judges Ginsburg, Sentelle and Brown will preside. This is a petition for review
of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Third Memorandum Opinion and Order in its
proceeding titled "Improving Public Safety Communications in the 800 MHz
Band". See, FCC's
brief
[PDF]. Location: Location: 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold one of a series of meetings to
discuss the U.S. positions for the March and April 2008 meeting of the ITU-T Study Group 3
and related issues of the international telecommunication regulations. See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 23, at Page
6547. Location?

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding
its negotiation of "an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement to strengthen international
cooperation, enforcement practices, and participants' legal frameworks to address
counterfeiting and piracy". See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 15, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 32, at Pages
8910-8911.

People and Appointments

3/13. President Bush nominated Steven Agee to be a Judge of the
U.S. Court of Appeals (4thCir). He is
currently a member of the
Supreme Court of Virginia. See, White House
release. There are also three other persons who have been nominated, but
not confirmed, to be Judges of this Court of Appeals: Robert Conrad, Steve Matthews,
and Rod Rosenstein.
The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC)
has not held hearings on any of these three.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the SJC, gave a
speech in the
Senate on March 7, 2008, regarding the confirmation process. He asserted that "I
have continued to move forward and sought to make progress" on judicial
nominations. He blamed delays on Republicans, and added that Republicans held up
many of former President Clinton's judicial nominations. He said that "The
Republican Senate chose to stall consideration of circuit nominees and maintain
vacancies during the Clinton administration in anticipation of a Republican
presidency." Sen. Leahy did not concede that Democrats and Republicans
pursue similar strategies.

3/13. Emilio Gonzalez announced his intent to resign as Director of
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), effective April 18, 2008.
See, Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
release.

3/13. Jeff Murray joined the
Nickles Group as Director, Legislative Affairs. He
will focus on intellectual property, media and entertainment issues. He was legislative
director for Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), a
members of the House Judiciary Committee
(HJC) and its Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property.
Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK) is the head of the Nickles Group.

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